Hi Marcus,some more photos of the ashtray, one of my favourite pieces, so would be nice to puta name to it. It has a skrdlovice feel to it, deep amber sommerso effect, green centre,cased in clear, with abstract cross in each side.Maybe another Bohemian maker, my guess 80s, but i could be completely on the wrong track!(and maybe should try new thread for it?)Thanks again,Andy

Sklounion

This is almost certainly a Pavel Hlava design for Exbor. Items like this frequently left Exbor without the acid-etched mark. This is probably from around the mid to late 1960s, judging by the colouration. If this had been predominantly red, then it would still be Hlava, but dating some twenty years later.Regards,Marcus

Sklounion

A few words regarding Terry’s later posted items from Beranek.I have read, though right at this moment, I cannot remember exactly where, a comment along the lines of Beranek’s early works were poor quality, and of artisanal design, Poor quality probably was a reference to smelting difficulties, and the bubbly glass so produced.

I suggest that this is inaccurate. It is quite clear that Beranek counted among his earliest collaborator/customers, members of the Functionalist design movement,particularly those working with Bohuslav Fuchs in Brno. At that point in time, several shops selling household fitments existed, similar to Heals in the UK, among them Krásná Jizba, Druzstevni Prace, and in Brno, AKA.

Whilst table glassware designed by Fuchs and made by the Kvetna glassworks was available, the decorative items came from elsewhere. One form of decorative glass offered by these shops was off-hand items, with bubble inclusions and can be seen in designs by Ludvika Smrčková for Krásná Jizba, made by ČMS (Českomoravské Sklárny glassworks, formerly S.Reich) around 1940-41. In the case of Beranek, items such as Terry’s were produced for AKA, and it is clear that interaction with AKA took place shortly after opening his business. Drahomira Fuchsová had supplied designs for glass animals, from @ 1942, but arguably the vases and bowls date to 1945. Why we cannot clearly state that they may have been earlier is that some of the pattern book exists only as photocopies, and some of these are not continuous. What we do know is that designs such as these came from Vera Lichtagová, with designs for simple vase and bowl forms being used from Drahomira Fuchs.

It is difficult to put a date on when production of these items ended, but the Spanish issue of the Glassexport catalogue of work from Škrdlovice, 1954, carries no items from this product range.

Marcus, again thanks for the information. As an added bit of info, the larger of my two pieces carries two lables. One is an oval gold foil that says Made in Czechoslovakia. The other, although in rough condition is a shield shape and looks like a large K USA K with Art Cut Crystal below. Obviously an importer lable, but of interest. Terry